Comming back around to the Earth

[TCLynx]

We are all different and yet, many of us find our ways back around to very similar points in our lives.

I am definitely not what many people would think of as "normal" at least once they know anything about me. My "Profession" is definitely not "normal." I've been a stagehand, techie, roadie, or the like for many years. I might call myself an audio engineer, lighting technician, AV technician and I've worked a wide variety of jobs. Most of them are nothing that the general public would even think of most of the time. You know all those big corporate meetings and trade shows or conferences that many industries have? Well my industry "Puts on the show". When I was younger, I thought I would be happy traveling all the time, I thought touring was great. I have done the entertainment side (Touring Shows like Riverdance, yea I was the one taping microphones to their shoes!) Several years ago I was out on the road, in a new city each week or perhaps twice a week and I became totally frustrated with trying to eat healthy while living in hotel rooms and out of suitcases. It was hard enough to simply eat, let alone good healthy fresh foods. It was time for a change.

I got off the road and stayed home but that wasn't good enough (home at the time was an apartment with a shady 9' by 9' patio.) I did start there. I was doing hydroponics inside under lights, trying to compost on my little patio, and attempting to get food to grow in containers in the shade. Living in an apartment doesn't mean you can't grow any of your own food, you just have to be more creative about it. It didn't take long before I needed a home with some access to the earth though and I've now turned my little place with 1/3rd of an acre lot into as much of a farm as I probably dare.

The 1/3rd acre farm has much in the way of dirt gardens as well as the Aquaponics systems of course. Composting and worm farming is much easier with a little space. We also keep some chickens to provide us with eggs and this past year we have added Muscovy Ducks to our flock. Muscovy's can provide eggs but they are more for meat (Big benefit, Muscovy ducks don't quack.)

I have become confident that this little lot with some practice at gardening here, could provide a huge amount of our own food but I would like more space on some agricultural land where the neighbors can't turn me in for every little thing that doesn't meet their ideal of "normal."

I want to build the soil and have enough space for the birds to free range that I won't need to provide them with as much purchased food as I currently must. I want my birds to protect my fruit trees from pests while fertilizing the soil in the "food forest." I want to surround the house with highly productive aquaponics to feed the family high value fruits and veggies. I want to be comforted by an abundances of fresh food that the sound of it thumping to the ground just means a treat for the animals, not a waste that we didn't pick it in time.

The power and feeling of well being I get when eating a meal prepared mostly from produce of our own little plot is something I want to share with the rest of the world. I'm confident that my home has a good supply of fresh and preserved food on hand. I fear for the larger population come some disaster since many areas of our country only have 3 days worth of food on hand at any one time. If the trucks, boats, and planes stop delivering food from far away, many people will starve. Heck, many people are already starving while at the same time they are overweight because the food they are eating no longer provides all the nutrients they need for a balanced diet. I may not be able to change the world directly enough to cause a visible change in the "way things are" but if enough of us lead by example and share what we do with those who are interested, We Will Change the World.

[Raychel A Watkins]

I own 1.179 acres on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. I have owned the land since 1968. I have done many different things with the land. I raised all kinds of animals and made many dirt gardens. I left Hawaii in 1983 to live in Omaha NE. I was there 14 years. I planted many fruit and nut trees while living there. I can tell you I never harvested a fruit or a nut due to the terrible springs. I moved back to Hawaii in 98 ( I never let go of my land) I started planting things and in one year I was harvesting fruits. I started a small citrus farm and added exotic fruit trees. I had success in growing but sold mostly swap meets. I finally got tired of loading up my truck and driving 30 miles just to argue with people over the price. Two years ago my chiropractor showed me a DVD on aquaponics. I was raising asian catfish at the time. I immediately became passionate and set me up a system make out of barrels. I was really getting into it when I ended up having a torn retina in my rt eye. I have to stop everything for 6 months. Then I had to get catarac surgery. My chiropractor never gave up he told me about the class on the Big Island. I couldn't go to the first one but jumped at the one last October. I jumped into it whole hog. The more I do the more I want to do. I just keep setting up systems all of them a little different. I tell everyone I can about the benefits and have them to come out and see my systems. I try to impress upon them that anyone can do it and with little money and little space. Now my chiropractor has decided to give up his raised square foot garden, stick a fish tank under it, a lining in the top and start his own aquaponics system. He was living out his wants through me and finally realized he could make his own system.
I understand what you mean about eating a meal off your system. I think I called 3 people tonight to tell them that my whole meal was mostly of my system. I made a salad with lettuce and tomato. I made a chicken dish using ung choy off the system. I was so excited. I try to emphasize to people that this is an easy and safe way to raise food. Have you seen the news on tv about kids with ADHD have high levels of pesticides in their blood. I have been screaming about this for years. I also say it isn't the mercury in the vaccine that harms kids. It is what we put on our food, yards, and weeds. Time will prove it to be true. Also the world is in a water problem. We can't afford good food so we eat junk. Aquaponics is the answer to all of these problems and we are the ones to show the way. If each one of us shares with every one we can a few will catch the fever. Our number will grow.

[k edmonds]

Thanks for sharing parts of your journey.